How to Grow Chipotle Chilies

Chipotle chilies are smoked and dried jalapeno chile peppers.

Chipotle chilies are earthy peppers that pack a powerful, smoky punch when added to a dish. These chilies are from a common jalapeno plant (capsicum annum). When they are harvested, they are dried and smoked, creating a distinctive chile flavor – chipotle -- that fuels the spice level in many Southwestern and Mexican cuisines. Growing chipotle chilies is as easy as growing tomatoes if you are sensitive to light and temperature conditions.

1

Pull on gardening gloves to protect your hands and spread about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of 12-12-12 fertilizer on a 2-foot-square area. Peppers greedily absorb nitrogen and the 12-12-12 fertilizer is nitrogen- and phosphorous-rich. If you wish to use compost instead, spread about 2 pounds of compost in the same square area.

2

Work the fertilizer into the soil with a small shovel. When it's thoroughly incorporated, dig a hole that is twice the width and depth of the plant's pot or root ball.

3

Fill just enough of the removed dirt back into the hole so that the top of the root ball is level with the ground. Place the plant into the hole and fill in the space around it with the displaced soil, creating a mound of earth covering the roots that rounds up the stem of the plant to hold it in place. If you have more than one jalapeno pepper plant, set them about 12 inches apart to allow ample room for growth.

4

Water each plant generously to about 3 feet deep, ensuring the roots are well-fed.

5

Cover the new plants with a hot cap or bell jar if the nights remain cool. You won’t need to use the cap once the plant matures or if the nights don’t become too cold.

6

Water every four to five days once the top 1 to 1 1/2 inches of soil is dry. Overwatering can rot tender roots and destroy the plant. When the peppers grow to about 10 inches high, water weekly in the absence of ample rainfall.

7

Fertilize the pepper plants with 2 teaspoons of liquid seaweed added to 1 gallon of water every two weeks during the growing season. After about 60 to 70 days, you can cease fertilizing.

8

Place a tomato cage around or stake the plant once it reaches about 12 to 18 inches tall to ensure it grows upright and heavy branches are not weighed to the ground with the growing fruit.

9

Harvest the jalapeno peppers when they turn red, about 150 days after planting. Chipotles are dried and smoked from the red jalapeno chilies, not the green. To ensure you don’t inadvertently transfer the heat from the peppers to your mouth or eyes, wear gloves while harvesting.

Things You Will Need

Gardening gloves

1/8 cup 12-12-12 fertilizer or compost

Small shovel

Jalapeno chile pepper plant

Watering can

Hot cap or bell jar

2 teaspoons liquid seaweed

Tomato cage

Insecticidal soap

Tips

Pinch off early flowers to encourage larger and more bountiful pepper production.

To prepare chipotles, place the jalapeno peppers on cookie sheets and dry them overnight in a 150- to 200-degree F oven. Once they are shriveled, smoke them for several hours in your backyard smoker or on a smoky grill away from the heat source.

Warnings

Aphids are a known pepper pest and if they cause the plant's leaves to curl, spray the plant with insecticidal soap. If pepper weevils attack and the buds begin to yellow, fall or develop blotches, immediately destroy the plant so the weevils do not have a chance to spread to healthy plants. Orange or yellow rings around the pods are indicative of a spotted wilt virus and can be controlled through weed management.

Crop rotation -- alternating the years you grow peppers or changing the location for the next year's crop -- minimizes pest infestation and aids in growing healthy plants.